Policy learning from evidence during polycrises: a case of EU environmental policy

Figures & data

Table 1. Main sources, types, and intended uses of evidence.²

Sources	Types	Intended uses
Repositories Policy evaluations Performance dashboards Scientific publications Political polls Institutional memory Policy experiences across time and space An actor-based view Specialized organizations Political groups and advocacy coalitions Epistemic communities Special interest groups The general public	Economic indicators Behavioral and societal indicators Technical performance indicators	Generating technical (programmatic solutions) Substantiating preexisting policy positions Accumulation of political capital and resources Answering to accountability demands De-politicizing issues

Source: Authors’ synthesis.

Table 2. Operationalization of key variables.

Key variable	Operationalization in interviews and analysis
Actors	Key individual and collective actors involved in the learning process both as teachers and learners (e.g. individual experts, different directorates within the EC, expert groups, the EEA, etc.)
Evidence (knowledge and information)	Knowledge and information pursued (emphasizing the deliberate aspect in the conceptualization of learning), considered relevant and reliable (emphasizing the social construction aspect of evidence), and how were they used (emphasizing the variety of ways where evidence can be instrumentalized) Different types of evidence (e.g. scientific reports and publications, public opinion surveys, knowledge from the political and bureaucratic apparatus, etc.) The disciplinary features of evidence (single or multidisciplinary)
Governance structures	Different involved advisory bodies The institutional configuration of evidence collection and processing bodies, power balances, and relationships between them
Context	Polycrisis development as the layering and interaction of a new crisis above an already existing one

Figure 1. Evidence-based policy learning during the polycrisis.